The Promise

The 250th anniversary of American independence is not only a celebration of 1776. In New York, it is also an invitation to look honestly at the Revolution's complexity — what it promised, whom it included, and whom it left outside its ideals of liberty and freedom. The New York State 250th Commemoration Field Guide frames the anniversary around both New York's role in the Revolution and the continuing struggle of marginalized groups to reach those ideals.

This exhibit begins with that question and brings it to one Long Island town. In Islip, the promise of independence can be followed through land, law, occupation, family stories, churchyards, town records, community institutions, and the lives of people who kept making a home here after the war ended. The question is not only what independence meant in 1776, but what it has meant to each generation since.

The story is told as two pillars joined by one bridge. The first pillar is Revolutionary Islip and Long Island: the land before the town, the creation of local government, the British occupation, Sagtikos Manor, Isaac Thompson, and Washington's 1790 tour. The second pillar is the unfinished promise — the people who were excluded, the communities that later entered civic life, and the residents who are still shaping what belonging means in Islip today.

Sources

1. New York State 250th Commemoration Field Guide.